Dragon Helm II

So, back to Mister Dragon!

I coloured the pieces with Antique Stain rather than dye, because I just love the colour you can get from it on the straw kip leather. As well as that,  I like the uneven browns on it. The whole thing just looks more loved. 

There weren't many rivets in there at the end, which was nice. After all of the sewing, it was a godsend for my shoulders! The headband part has some eyelets so it can be tied to fit whatever size head it comes across.

After it was all fixed together, I did a final shaping on a stand-in head (or 'Nogg', as I have taken to calling them.). The string was there to keep the little flaps at the side sitting nicely, which seemed to like to... well... flap around instead of being where they were supposed to.

And soon after finishing, Mister Dragon was off to be sold. Made me a bit sad since I only just made him, but he'll have family soon enough! There was a lot of interest in him before he left, so it seems like the wise thing to do. Next thing will be giving the thing a proper name instead of just 'dragon helm'.

Dragon Helm

I'll be trading at Nerd East at the weekend, and I'm quite determined to make something Big And Fancy to take with me. I've got a few pauldrons/spaulders on the go (anyone fancy telling me which?), and a few post-apoc bracers, and some of my usual masks... but I don't see any of those as Big And Fancy. Maybe the Scavengers are, but I'm just too used to them now.

Anyway! I decided to have a go at an actual helm. I've toyed with the idea in the past and had a look at a few patterns, but I've never actually gave it a go. This is my chance, right? And what goes nicely with LARP? Dragons, of course!

I went with my usual straw kip rather than something sturdier, because it's nice and cheap for when I end up doing it wrong, and I can stiffen it up later. So, here we are, bits of the dragon so far.

So, that's pretty much obviously the face-part up top. Not sure about any more shaping to it yet. Might add some more bits. We shall see! Next are little fin things which will go to the side like so. Can't have a dragon helm without wingy bits, right? The face-part is the first thing I've properly hand sewed with the appropriate tools and thread, so it's a little messy, but it does its job.

The other bit it supposed to be like a little tail, which will hang somewhere on the back. It has a little bit of movement in it, which is nice, as long as it doesn't get stuck or fall apart. 

More updates as I do stuff. Possibly. I am ridiculously bad at blogging.